Portal Of Youth
by Gigi13
Summary: A Buffy throwback. Set after "the Gift." Instead of the portal killing Buffy it turns her into a child again, leaving the Scoobies to take her of her.
1. Default Chapter

Portal Of Youth   
  
Chapter1:   
  
Bitty Buffy  
  
Summary: Instead of Buffy dying at the end of The Gift, the portal turns her into a child and the scoobies have to take care of her.  
  
Disclaimer: Joss still owns them.  
  
"Buffy...no" Dawn begged standing on a tower as the world was trying to come to an end, realizing that her sister was about to die for her.  
  
"Dawnie, I have to." Buffy answered. She said her final goodbye to her sister and swan-dived off the tower into Glory's portal. The chaos had stopped. The portals had closed, the lightning and demons that were unleashed went away.   
  
All her friends who'd fought by her side and cared about her for so many years had been standing somewhere near the tower looking up and had witnessed her jump. No one could believe it though. Buffy was their leader, their hero, their friend. She couldn't be dead. Dawn made her way down the stairs of the tower clutching her slashed rib-cage.  
  
All the scoobies took deep breaths, even the badly injured Spike, and walked over to where Buffy's body landed. They each tried to prepare themselves for what they were about to see but as it turned out there was not enough time in the world to prepare them for what they saw. There right infront of them in the very spot where Buffy's dead body was supposed to be was a little blonde girl who had to be around five or six. She was wearing a Sundress with sunflowers on it with her hair in pig tails.   
  
"What's going on?" the girl asked.   
  
Willow knew the little girl, she had just been speaking with her a few hours ago. It was Buffy. But it couldn't be Buffy. Buffy was supposed to be dead, the portal should've killed her. Willow walked over to the girl and knelt down infront of her. "Buffy?" she asked.   
  
"How did you know? Who are you? I want my mommy!" Buffy responded. Everyone else gasped in the realization of what had happened.   
  
Willow may be able to do math well and know a lot about books and other intellectual stuff, but kids? That was a job for the Xan man. "We know because we're friends of yours Buffy. And we're going to take care of you." Xander said lifting Buffy up.  
  
"Bloody right we will" Spike added. Buffy smiled. She liked the way the blonde man talked.   
  
"Why are some of you hurt?" Buffy asked observantly.   
  
"They fell down and got boo-boo's." Xander answered. Spike was going to make fun of him for saying boo-boo's but A; he was in to much pain and B; Spike would've said it to in order to comfort Buffy. He'd do anything for Buffy.   
  
Giles decided to take charge of the situation. "Ok Since Dawn, Anya and probably Tara should go to a doctor, Willow and Xander you should take them. Spike you need to get inside soon and you need to be bandaged so you can come with me to Bu-ah...Dawns house with me, and Buffy can come with me as well. Is that ok with you Buffy?"  
  
"Yes Mr. Glasses-wearing man it is." Buffy replied.   
  
Giles smiled fondly at the girl and took her from Xander. "Ok we better get going." he stated.   
  
A few hours later Giles was asleep in the Summers living room and Spike and Buffy weren't that far behind. Thanks to Vampire heeling Spike was already feeling better. He looked over to the other end of the couch were Buffy was and he could sense something wasn't right with her. "Something wrong Buffy?" he asked. Buffy nodded, that wasn't the response Spike was looking for. "What is it?"  
  
"I don't like it here. There's no one here who I know." Buffy answered sadly. Just then Spike had an idea and he ran darted for the staircase and ran up. About two minutes later he returned.   
  
"Here, now you have a familiar face." Spike said handing her a stuffed pink pig.  
  
"Mr. Gordo!" Buffy happily squealed, causing Spike to smile at her. "How'd he get here?"  
  
"I told him to come. See Mr. Gordo and I go way back so I had him special delivered just for you."  
  
"Thanks you Mr...um...whats your name again?"  
  
"Spike. Just Spike no Mister."  
  
"Oh yeah, hehe. I like that name its funny. I think I am gonna go to sleepy now."  
  
"Ok then good for you. I think I'll do the same" Spike said smiling at her. He enjoyed making Buffy, no matter what age, happy.  
  
"Spike?"  
  
"Yeah Buffy?" he questioned sitting back on the couch.  
  
"Don't leave ok? Cause you seem reals nice and if I gotta stay here I think I want you here too, ok?" Buffy asked. Spikes smiling got even wider.  
  
"Of course Buffy."  
  
"Yay" she replied as she drifted off to sleep.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N I know this chapter was kinda short, but there's more to come soon. But how bout reviewing in the meantime to tell me how this one was? Thanks :) 


	2. Introductions

Chapter 2  
  
Introductions.   
  
A/N: Thanks to the people who reviewed, keep em' coming  
  
Later in the afternoon the front door of the Summers home opened and in walked Dawn, Willow, Anya, Tara and Xander. When they entered the living room they saw Giles, Spike and mini Buffy asleep. The fact that Spike and Buffy were sleeping on the same couch-head to toe-didn't make Xander the happiest man on earth but given the evens of the past few days he let it go. 'At least we're all alive' he kept reminding himself.  
  
"Hello people" Buffy greeted opening her eyes and looking up at them.   
  
"Hello Buffy. Thought you were asleep there" Xander answered.  
  
"I was. But now I am not. They're real sleepyheads though" Buffy told him pointing two Spike and Giles. "Maybe its cause they both talk funny."  
  
Everyone smiled at her last comment.   
  
"M'not a sleepyhead" Spike mumbled waking up.  
  
"And I don't talk that funny" Giles said doing the same.   
  
"So, I know that the blonde man is called Spike and the glasses wearing man is called Giles, but I don't know what you people are called." Buffy said to the scoobies.  
  
"You're right Buffy, you don't. How rude of us not to introduce ourselves. My names Xander." he said sticking his hand out for her to shake which she did.  
  
"I am Buffy, but you knew that already."  
  
"My names Willow"   
  
"I like that name, it's a tree. I sawed a Willow tree once, but you're much prettier then it" Buffy commented, which cause Willow to smile very pleasantly.  
  
"Thank you Buffy, that's so nice."  
  
"Hi there little girl Buffy. I am Anya. I think you'll find I am pretty too" Anya said to her waving enthusiastically at Buffy. There was something about Anya that Buffy liked, but there was also something about her that made Buffy a little bit afraid; maybe it was all the waving and the weird face she was making.  
  
"I-I am Tara"  
  
"You're a tiara?" Buffy questioned, mishearing the witches name.  
  
"No sweety Ta-rah" she corrected nicely.   
  
"And I am Dawn"  
  
Buffy frowned at that name. "Ew, I don't like that name. I gots a sister with that name. At first I thought she'd be fun to have around but she's stupid." Now it was Dawn who was frowning at what Buffy said. "All she can do is lay down and sleep and drink from a stupid bottle that she needs mommy to hold for her and she drools and pees and poops on herself; a lot. Well her doesn't really pee and pooh on herself, she does it in a stupid diaper. She also cry's a whole lot and she looks very much like a goldfish" Buffy stated matter-of-factly.  
  
Everyone but Dawn was amused at Buffy's description of baby-Dawn. "I didn't look like a goldfish" Dawn muttered so lowly that the only one who could hear it was Spike with his vampire hearing. Spike gave Dawn a grin from behind Buffy that let Dawn know that Spike heard her and was finding this all very funny. And also that she should expecting him to make fish jokes and tease her later.   
  
"This is Mr. Gordo. He's my best friend. I didn't think he'd be here but Spike had him special delivered to me so I'd have a friend of mine here. Cause turns out they know each other! Isn't that cool?" Buffy said holding up the pig. Everyone smirked at Spike and the fact that he was even mini-Buffy whipped. Spike just smiled and shrugged, he didn't care if they thought he was wussy as long as Buffy was happy.   
  
But then Spike got a more serious look on his face. If this Buffy remembered Dawn, then that meant she was from the reality that they all were in now, the one the monks created. It wasn't much but maybe it would be a start to finding out why she's here and more importantly, how to get the real Buffy back.   
  
"Um... Buffy how old is your sister? I got can tell that she's a baby, but do you know how many months old she is?" Spike asked. Giles, who still had his head down on the chair looked up curiously catching on to what Spike was doing.  
  
"Zero" Buffy answered. "Mommy and Daddy just brought her home today and already she's stupid and gets all the attention."  
  
Spike and Giles looked at each other, and the other scoobies looked confused. "Buffy, dear, would you do me a favor?" Giles asked nicely.  
  
"What favor?"  
  
"I want you to go and get washed up, so we can have some lunch ok? Maybe Dawn will help you"  
  
"I'll help her" Tara offered. "Come on Buffy, I-I'll even give you a t-tour of the house." Tara and Buffy left and Dawn took Buffy's place on the couch.  
  
"You alright niblet?" Spike asked.  
  
"My side hurts, they had to give me stitches and wrap up my lower ab in gauze and stuff." she answer leaning on Spike. "Well, Glenda seems Ok, How you doin' Anya?"  
  
"Not bad, the pain is getting better, the doctors said I can't do a lot of movement though which is good cause that means Xander will have to be on top for awhile, without having to change with me." Anya happily answered.   
  
"ANYA" Spike yelled covering Dawn's ears(which he did as soon as she mentioned movement because he knew where she'd go with that) and wishing someone had done the same for him.  
  
"Its nice that you can look on the bright side though" Willow commented.   
  
"Let's get to why I asked Buffy to leave the room shall we?" Giles asked.   
  
"Sure, what's up?" Xander replied.   
  
"Well judging by the day that the child Buffy seems to have been brought here from its safe to conclude that...wait, Dawn are maybe you should leave the room too"  
  
"Giles, I want to stay" she responded. Giles nodded and continued.  
  
"The portal turned our Buffy into the Buffy of the first day of Buffy's life that the monks made, the first day that never actually happened. I am guessing, and this is only a guess, but the portal must've reset her internal clock somehow to go back to her first introduction to Dawn, to the key."  
  
"So how do we bring our Buffy back?" Willow asked.   
  
"I haven't a clue. But I am assuming it won't be easy, its safe to say that Buffy will be around here for awhile."  
  
"Oh joy" Dawn said sarcastically.   
  
"Don't worry Dawnie, it doesn't mean we'll forget about you. Infact as soon as the sun goes down I'll out and buy you you're very own tank to live in and I'll even throw in one of those castle things" Spike joked with a smirk on his face.  
  
"I didn't look like a fish! I'll find pictures to prove it!" She protested.  
  
"Hey, relax. You don't wonna where out your gills" Xander added.   
  
"I dislike you people very much." Dawn stated.   
  
"That hurts." Spike responded sarcastically. "Poor lil' bit. But Giles is right, I doubt Buffy will be going back any time soon."  
  
"I can't go home soon" Buffy said sadly returning with Tara.  
  
"Um...not yet sweetie. But you'll be fine here. We'll take good care of you and we'll have fun too" Willow told her.  
  
"My mommy will be worried about me. I miss my mommy. Spike since you know Mr. Gordo and he lives with me and my mommy, do you know her too? Can you make her come here?"  
  
No one knew what to say, especially Spike. They knew they couldn't tell her Joyce was dead, that would hurt her too much but they had to come up with something. "Um...Buffy there's something I need to tell you." Spike said. Everyone looked at him, worried that he was actually going to tell her the truth about Joyce. "See um...you're mom, she's..gone...out of town for awhile. That's why you're here, we agreed to watch you."  
  
"But what about Daddy? And Dawn?"  
  
Spike looked around the room for help, which no one gave. "They ah... they went too. See they had to go to a very boring place that adults have to go to and they brought Dawn because she's a baby and she doesn't know any better. But if you went, you'd be bored. And why be bored when you could have fun with all of us. We're very fun."   
  
"Oh Ok. That was very nice of them to let me stay here. I hate being bored. I am hungry...can we have food now?" Buffy asked buying Spikes story.   
  
"Sure we can" Giles allowed. They all walked into the kitchen and Willow mouthed 'nice work' to Spike as they did. Who knew Spike was good with kids?   
  
"Dawn is the chicken in here still good?" Giles asked holding a container of chicken he got from the fridge.  
  
"Yeah, Buf-.." Dawn cut herself off realizing saying Buffy might not be the best thing to say "ern...Willow made it not that long ago. There's also some macaroni salad that we bought too, there's a lot of it, should be enough for all of us."  
  
Giles heated up the chicken and everyone gathered around the dinning room table. Willow scooped a big spoonful of macaroni salad onto Buffy's plate and the put a chicken leg on the plate, almost in the macaroni salad. Buffy look horrified and quickly moved the chicken to the other end of the plate. Then she carefully placed dressing for the chicken on the plate in a carefully selected spot on the plate away from the other items.  
  
"What's she doing?" Xander whispered to Dawn who was rubbing her head at old memories of Buffy eating that in her head now.  
  
"Its this weird this thing she did until she was like 12 or 13. She can't have any of her food touching each other or she freaks. She also eats her food in sections. Like see how she's eating the salad now? She won't even taste the chicken until all that is finished." Dawn told him.  
  
Xander rolled his eyes which made Dawn laugh. "So in other words kiddie Buffy is highly neurotic."   
  
"You have_ no_ idea" Dawn answered giving him a look that let him know that this was only the beginning.  
  
"The next few weeks are going to be very interesting aren't they?" he asked her.  
  
Dawn smirked evilly (which Xander guessed she learned from Spike) "You have_ no_ idea" she repeated.   
  
TBC  
  
A/N So how was the second chapter? There's more to come including more of little crazy Buffy and maybe a surprise guest visitor or two...or three..or more. Who could they be? Review and wait and find out. 


End file.
